Rivertown rants, raves and reviews from a man of many hats

Great Petaluma Chili Cookoff…

This Saturday, May 11th, marks the 16th Annual Great Petaluma Chili Cook-off, Salsa and Beer Tasting. The event has become a Petaluma institution and is always a crowd favorite. This isn’t hard to believe with over 40 chili and salsa teams battling it out for top honors. And don’t forget about the beer garden and the music and entertainment. The event is held from 1pm – 5pm in and around Herzog Hall (Petaluma Fairgrounds) and benefits Cinnabar Theater’s Young Repertory program. Think of it as doing your good deed for the day, with all the food, drink, entertainment, and great Petaluma energy that you could want, as an added bonus.

This year’s event is sure to be the biggest ever. The challenger spots sold out quickly, giving them plenty of extra time to tweak their recipes…so now it is your job to come and taste (and vote on) their creations. These teams spend all year working on their recipes in order to take their shot at Chili glory. You can see a venerable who’s-who of local restaurants, caterers, businesses and service organization by checking out their challengers’ page.

Along with the high energy competition of chili and salsa tasting inside Herzog Hall, outside the pace slows a bit and allows you to enjoy the Petaluma spring weather with music, dancing, people watching and a vast array of libations in the beer garden. As always, the beer garden is anchored by the highly charitable local favorite and winner of multiple People’s Choice Awards, Lagunitas Brewing Company. They are in good company with a virtual who’s-who of West Coast breweries.

But not be outdone by our celebrity judges, everyone entering through the front door is given a set of ballots cards to distribute among their top chili, salsa and beer choices. These ballots are tallied for an array of ever popular People’s Choice Awards. As the competition heats up, each voting card garners more cheering, bell ringing and noise making than the last, as the teams vie for these coveted trophies. This is not just a food and beer tasting “event.” This is a chance to participate in one of the great Petaluma experiences while supporting a great cause. Events like the Great Petaluma Chili Cook-off, Salsa and Beer Tasting are what make Petaluma such a great place to live and why so many people want to come back and visit.

This is a family style event with special pricing and entertainment for the kids. For all the information about the 16th Annual Great Petaluma Chili Cook-off, Salsa and Beer Tasting visit www.greatchilicookoff.com. Parking is free, both at the fairgrounds and on the street.

About this blog

Meat Two Ways. …on a stick…and in a bowl!

My name is Houston and I am a Petalumaholic. If it has to do with Petaluma, I am reading about it, visiting it, playing in it, or eating it. I try to participate wherever I can in this community that I under-appreciated as a kid. A big fan of food, I revel in Petaluma’s vast and diverse restaurant, brewery, and winery scene and volunteer or visit every Petaluma food festival, event, or “feed” that I can. I am an Elite Yelp reviewer and in my free time blog as often as I can about the food, as well as the parades, festivals, events, people, and businesses that make Petaluma such a great place to live.

I encourage your feedback and look forward to serving the community through Petaluma 360. If you want to follow my blog without having to log into Petaluma360 you can do so by adding my feed to your homepage. Click on the orange “RSS” button at the bottom right of this webpage. Copy the web address of that link and then open your normal Yahoo (or whatever) homepage. There should be an “add content” option which will allow you add RSS feeds. The link on your homepage is minimal in size but it helps my page gain popularity, which I greatly appreciate, and will encourage me to “rant, rave and review” more often.

I love me some piggy belly!!! (at Tara Firma Farms, getting in touch with my inner pig farmer. They are located at the end of I St. and are open to the public from sunrise until sunset with numerous hiking trails and lots of farming.)